The present invention relates to a paper holder for holding paper or the like and in which an individual""s fingers are protected from being caught in moving components during use.
A variety of paper holders have been developed for retaining sheets of paper that can be easily seen while operating, e.g., a word processor, typewriter, personal computer, etc. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,183 to Hiromori discloses a paper holder having complementary convex and concave surfaces to retain paper in an upright and somewhat curved state. U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,889 to Suzuki discloses a paper clip in which two clamping members are pivotally coupled together and biased into abutment by a spring, with one of the clamping members being additionally pivotally mounted upon a fixed base plate.
Paper holders generally have a large number of exposed moving parts, resulting in the danger of unavoidably catching one""s fingers during use. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to eliminate the disadvantages and dangers encountered with prior art paper holders.
More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a paper holder which minimizes or eliminates danger of catching one""s fingers in moving components thereof.
It is also an object of the present invention to improve retention and clamping of paper in an upright position to be viewed, e.g., adjacent a computer, word processor, etc.
It is further object of the present inventor to provide a paper holder which is adapted for different tasks such as brushing away dust particles.
These and other objects are attained by the present invention which is directed to a paper holder comprising two holding members, a first holding member provided with a convex holding surface and a second holding member provided with a substantially complementary concave holding surface, plus a base portion extending from a lower end of one of the first and second holding members. At least one spindle is provided on either the base portion or a wall portion of the holding member mounted thereon and upon which the other holding member is pivotally mounted, such that the pivotal holding member can be pivoted away from the complementary holding member by pushing a portion, e.g., a top portion, of the pivotal holding member. An elastic or resilient member is also arranged to bias the holding surfaces of the first and second holding members together under pressure, the elastic member being structured and arranged to extend in a direction toward the non-pivotal, i.e. fixed, holding member whereby paper situated between the holding surfaces is retained in an erect and somewhat curved state.
The elastic or resilient member is structured and arranged to extend in a direction substantially parallel to a bottom surface of the base portion and/or in a substantially horizontal direction (i.e., when the paper holder is placed upon a horizontal flat surface). Furthermore, the elastic member is arranged to move by rotating the pivotal holding member such that when the pivotal hold member is pivoted by a finger and then released, both the elastic member and pivotal holding member move in a substantially circular arc. The pivotal holding member is also mounted upon the base or fixed holding member to completely encompass the elastic member and thus shield the elastic member from contacting an individual""s fingers.
The various components constituting the paper holder are compactly arranged and, in a preferred embodiment, can accommodate a brush which can be extended to brush away dust particles, e.g., static particles.
Thus, a compact paper holder is provided with a minimal number of exposed, protruding, moving compacts. Therefore, the danger of accidently catching one""s fingers in moving parts of the paper holder during use is greatly minimized if not totally eliminated. Furthermore, reliability and ease in clamping and retention of paper in an upright, easily-viewed position is improved with the inventive paper holder.